Document server for processing a distribution job in a document processing system

Abstract

A document server is provided for processing a distribution job in a document processing system. The document processing system includes a document manager, communicating with first and second virtual services, for coordinating the storing or processing of first and second copies of an image data set at the first and second virtual services, respectively. The document processing system further includes a distribution agent, communicating with the document manager, for receiving a first job ticket, including attributes for controlling the storing or processing of the first copy of the image data set at the first virtual service and a second job ticket for controlling the storing or processing of the second copy of the image data set at the second virtual service. In practice, the distribution agent transmits the first job ticket to the document manager at a first time so that the document manager routes the first copy of the image data set and the first job ticket to the first virtual service, and the distribution agent transmits the second job ticket to the document manager at a second time so that the document manager routes the second copy of the image data set and second job ticket to the second virtual service.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A document processing system for managing the storing or processing of a distribution job, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, comprising: a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set;   a document manager, communicating with said first and second virtual services, for coordinating the storing or processing of the first and second copies of the Image data sets at said first and second virtual services;   a distribution job agent, communicating with said document manager, for receiving the first and second job tickets and facilitating execution of the distribution job;   said document manager receiving the distribution job and, in response to said receiving, said document manager transmitting at least the first and second job tickets to said distribution job agent for said facilitation of the execution of the distribution job;   said distribution job agent, pursuant to facilitating the execution of the distribution job, transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time so that said document manager routes the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to said first virtual service, and said distribution job agent transmitting a copy of the second job ticket to said document manager at a second time so that said document manager routes the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to said second virtual service.   
     
     
       2. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein each of said first and second virtual services, said document manager and said distribution agent all communicate with one another by way of a first interface. 
     
     
       3. The document processing system of claim 2, wherein each of said document manager and said distribution job agent communicate with one another by way of a second interface. 
     
     
       4. The document processing system of claim 1, in which each of said first and second virtual services shares a resource for processing the first and second copies of the image data set, wherein said transmission of the first copy of the image data set, with the copy of the first job ticket and the second copy of the image data set, with the copy of the second job ticket, is scheduled so that a processing of the first copy of the image data set does not conflict with a processing of the second copy of the image data set. 
     
     
       5. A document processing system for managing the storing or processing of a distribution job, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the Image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, wherein a job including a second set of image data and a third job ticket is provided, and wherein the third job ticket defines a manner in which a copy of the second set of image data is to be executed at a third virtual service, comprising: a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set;   a document manager, communicating with said first and second virtual services, for coordinating the storing or processing of the first and second copies of the image data set at said first and second virtual services;   a distribution agent communicating with said document managers for receiving the first and second job tickets;   said distribution agent transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time so that said document manager routes the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to said first virtual service, and said distribution agent transmitting a copy of the second job ticket to said document manager at a second time so that said document manager routes the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to said second virtual service; and   wherein the third job ticket is operatively linked with one of the first and second job tickets so that one of said first and second virtual services routes the second set of image data to the third virtual service in response to transmitting the one of the first and second job ticket copies to one of the first and second virtual services.   
     
     
       6. A document server for processing a distribution job in a document processing system, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, the document processing system including a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set, comprising: a document manager, communicating with said first and second virtual services, for coordinating the storing or processing of the first and second copies of the image data set at said first and second virtual services;   a distribution job agent, communicating with said document manager, for receiving the first and second job tickets and facilitating execution of the distribution job; and   said document manager receiving the distribution job and, in response to said receiving, said document manager transmitting at least the first and second job tickets to said distribution job agent for said facilitation of the execution of the distribution job; and   said distribution job agent, pursuant to facilitating the execution of the distribution job, transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time so that said document manager routes the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to the first virtual service, and said distribution job agent transmitting a copy of the second job ticket to said document manager at a second time so that said document manager routes the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to the second virtual service.   
     
     
       7. The document server of claim 6, in which the document processing system includes mass memory, wherein the image data of the image data set is stored in the mass memory and said distribution jobs agent is provided with a reference indicating a location in memory at which the image data of the image data set is stored. 
     
     
       8. The document server of claim 6, wherein said document manager transmits the first and second job tickets to said distribution job agent prior to the times when said distribution job agent transmits the first and second job ticket copies to said document manager. 
     
     
       9. The document server of claim 6, wherein each of the first and second virtual services, said document manger and said distribution job agent all communicate with one another by way of a first interface. 
     
     
       10. The document server of claim 9, wherein each of said document manager and said distribution job agent communicate with one another by way of a second interface. 
     
     
       11. The document server of claim 6, in which each of the first and second virtual services shares a resource for processing the first and second copies of the image data set, wherein transmission of the first and second job tickets copies to said document manager is scheduled so that processing of the first copy of the image data set by the resource does not conflict with processing of the second copy image data set by the resource. 
     
     
       12. The document server of claim 6, wherein the first and second virtual services are implemented on a common apparatus. 
     
     
       13. The document server of claim 6, in which the document processing system includes a third virtual service, wherein one of the first and second virtual services causes one of the first and second copies of the image data set to be stored or processed at the third virtual service. 
     
     
       14. A document server for processing a distribution job in a document processing system, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, the document processing system including a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set, wherein a job including a second set of image data and a third job ticket is provided, and wherein the third job ticket defines a manner in which a copy of the second set of image data is to be executed at a third virtual service, comprising a document manager, communicating with said first and second virtual services, for coordinating the storing or processing of the first and second copies of the image data set at said first and second virtual services;   a distribution agent, communicating with said document manager, for receiving the first and second job tickets;   said distribution agent transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time so that said document manager routes the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to the first virtual service, and said distribution agent transmitting a copy of the second job ticket to said document manager at a second time so that said document manager routes the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to the second virtual service; and   the third job ticket being operatively linked with one of the first and second job tickets so that the second image data set is processed or stored at the third virtual service in response to transmitting the one of the first and second job ticket copies to one of the first and second virtual services.   
     
     
       15. The document server of claim 6, in which a job described by a third job ticket is provided, further comprising a second document manager communicating with said distribution job agent, the third job ticket being provided to said second document manager by said distribution job agent. 
     
     
       16. A method for processing a distribution job in a document processing system, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, the document processing system including a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set, the first and second virtual services communicating with a document manager for coordinating the storing or processing of the first and second copies of the image data set at said first and second virtual services, and the document manager communicating with a distribution job agent, comprising; a) transmitting the first and second job tickets to the distribution job agent;   b) receiving the distribution job at the document manager, said document manager, in response to said receiving, transmitting at least the first and second job tickets to said distribution job agent for facilitating execution of the distribution job;   c) with said distribution job agent, transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time and a copy of the second job ticket to the document manager at a second time; and   d) in response to receiving a copy of the first job ticket at the document manager, routing the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to the first virtual service with the document manager, and in response to receiving a copy of the second job ticket at the document manager, routing the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to the second virtual service with the document manager.   
     
     
       17. The method of claim 16, in which each of the first and second virtual services shares a resource for processing the first and second copies of the image data set, wherein said a) includes timing transmission of the first and second job tickets to the document manager so that processing of the first copy of the image data set by the resource does not conflict with processing of the second copy image data set by the resource. 
     
     
       18. A method of processing a distribution job in a document processing system, the distribution job including an image data set as well as a first job ticket and a second job ticket, the first and second job tickets including first and second sets of attributes, respectively, describing a manner in which first and second copies of the image data set are to be stored in or processed by the document processing system, the document processing system including a first virtual service for storing or processing the first copy of the Image data set in accordance with the first attribute set and a second virtual service for storing or processing a second copy of the image data set in accordance with the second attribute set, the first and second virtual services communicating with a document manager for coordinating the storing processing of the first and second copies of the image data set at said first and second virtual services, and the document manager communicating with a distribution agent, wherein a job including a second set of image data and a third job ticket is provided, and wherein the third job ticket defines a manner in which a copy of the second set of image data is to be executed at a third virtual service, comprising; a) transmitting the first and second job tickets to the distribution agent;   b) with said distribution agent, transmitting a copy of the first job ticket to said document manager at a first time and a copy of the second job ticket to the document manager at a second time;   c) in response to receiving a copy of the first job ticket at the document manager, routing the first copy of the image data set and the copy of the first job ticket to the first virtual service with the document manager, and in response to receiving a copy of the second job ticket at the document manager, routing the second copy of the image data set and the copy of the second job ticket to the second virtual service with the document manager; and   operatively linking the third job ticket in one of the first and second job tickets so that the second set of image data is processed or stored at the third virtual service in response to transmitting the one of the first and second job ticket copies to one of the first and second virtual services.